Fitness Journey: Before

Wednesday, May 06, 2015Charlotte in England

Are you currently training or need some inspiration to start? Motivation is the main battle for me. I work in an office, full time. So, the only time I get to exercise is before work, dinner time or after work. Superhuman people can exercise before work, I can't even function without a strong cuppa so I just can't find the energy to exercise at that hour. I choose to train in the evening, straight after work. Out come the trainers, sports bra and loud music. I don't train every night. On average it's normally, 2 to 3 times a week but if i'm feeling stupidly motivated i'll stretch to 4 times. If I don't feel like doing it that evening, I won't do it. Exercising with no energy after being stuck in an office environment all day is the worst. But, i'll make more of an effort to do it the next day! Sessions normally last about 30 minutes!In 2012 I completed Insanity, it was awesome. It only took me 2 months to complete and I lost 4% body fat, I was proud of what I achieved.In 2013 and 2014 I took a step back from the insane training of Insanity and did some weight training at the start of the year whilst still doing some interval training.Now in 2015, I'm back on the fitness thing. The latter half of 2014; my clothes started to feel tight, I could not fit into my favourite jeans and I generally felt sluggish, lethargic and was feeling unhappy about how I was looking. I was eating a lot of junk, every night. Weekends consisted of cake and takeaways. I was unhappy with how things were shaping out, so... I did something about it. I'm petite (standing tall at... 5ft3") so I have to be careful with my weight as I can look overweight much easier than you lucky taller people. I have short little legs so I need to look after my pins.I exercise to tone, not to lose weight. This year whilst training I haven't lost a single pound (seriously) but I've toned up quite a bit, see my progress here (coming soon). This may be a bit disheartening to some but I did not need to lose weight so this does not bother me at all. I've learnt weighing yourself is not important. As a heads up, I have not used any protein, diet tablets or weight loss aids. Please please don't take diet tablets for weight loss. I tried a meal replacement drink last year for a week and it was awful, never again. I understand some of you will think I did not need to exercise or tone and some may think I've been brainwashed by the media or something crazy but personally (this point is REALLY important), I felt I needed to. I didn't feel like "me" and was unhappy. I've always had high expectations for my body and I strive to look, and more importantly feel my best.The recent negative light on the "Are you beach body ready" thing has fueled me to write and share my personal experience with exercising. See my rant here...STATSBEFORE / Week 1Height: 5ft 3inWaist: 26.5 inchesLower Waist : 32.5 inchesHips: 36 inchesThigh: 22.5 inchesHere is my BEFORE photo.

Want to see my 4 month AFTER photo and measurements? See here... (i'm writing this post, come back soon)